Fan CULTure

Fan CULTure explores how present-day fans interact with the films, television shows, books, and pop culture artifacts they love. From creating original works of fanfiction to influencing the content of major primetime series through social media, fans are no longer passive consumers. They have evolved into active participants in creating and shaping these works. The all-new essays in this collection provide in-depth analyses of how fans interact with such popular franchises as Harry Potter, Lost, Supernatural, Lord of the Rings and Joss Whedon’s Serenity, and examines as well topics not based on media-like fans of LEGO building blocks, Disneyland, and NFL quarterback Tim Tebow.

The late Kristin M. Barton was a professor and chair of the Department of Communications at Dalton State College in Dalton, Georgia. He lived in Woodstock, Georgia.

Jonathan Malcolm Lampley is a prolific contributor to many popular-culture periodicals and publications.

Edited by Kristin M. Barton and Jonathan Malcolm Lampley

Foreword by Stephen J. Sansweet

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 212
Bibliographic Info: bibliographies, index
Copyright Date: 2014
pISBN: 978-0-7864-7418-9
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0459-6
aISBN: 978-1-4766-5291-7
Imprint: McFarland

Foreword (Stephen J. Sansweet) 1
Introduction (Kristin M. Barton) 5

Section 1: Fan Productions
Can’t Stop the Sequel: How the Serenity-Inspired Browncoats: Redemption Is Changing the Future of Fan Films (Kristin M. Barton) 9
Dark Shadows Fandom, Then and Now (1966–2013) (Jeff Thompson) 23
Spellbound: An Analysis of Adult-Oriented Harry Potter Fanfiction (Don Tresca) 36
Recut Film Trailers, Nostalgia and the Teen Film (Kathleen Williams) 47

Section 2: Social Media
Bringing Piety Back: Tim Tebow, Sports and American Culture (Susan Orenstein) 61
Fan-Made Time: The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit (Owain Gwynne) 76
The Fandom Is Out There: Social Media and The X-Files Online (Bethan Jones) 92
Alternate Reality Games, Narrative Disbursement and Canon: The Lost Experience (Kent Aardse) 106

Section 3: Fan-Influenced Content
Block Party: A Look at Adult Fans of LEGO (Jennifer C. Garlen) 119
A New Kind of Pandering: Supernatural and the World of Fanfiction (Anissa M. Graham) 131
Desiring the Tangible: Disneyland, Fandom and Spatial Immersion (Meyrav Koren-Kuik) 146
Chuck Versus the Advertiser: How Fan Activism and Footlong Subway Sandwiches Saved a Television Series (Kristin M. Barton) 159
“Guys, where are we?” Podcasts, Online Video and Lost’s Participatory Culture (Michael Graves) 173

Afterword: The Past and Future of Fandom Studies (Jonathan Malcolm Lampley) 191
About the Contributors 197
Index 199

• “Highly recommended”—Choice
• “Excellent examination…essays are context rich…an enjoyable, easy read that is appealing on many levels from academic to…well, fandom”—Journal of American Culture